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Check out a part

Checking out a file acquires its lock and makes it writable so you can edit it. Until you do, the file is read-only and SolidWorks won't let you save changes.

Prerequisites

  • You are signed in and the Files tab shows your repository.
  • The file is Not Locked (no one else holds it). If it shows Locked by Other, you must wait or coordinate with that person.
  • Ideally the file is already available on this PC. If it shows ·placeholder·, consider making it available first so SolidWorks has real geometry to open.

Steps

  1. In the Files tab, find the part.
  2. Right-click it and choose one of:
  3. Check Out — acquire the lock only.
  4. Check Out & Open — acquire the lock and open the file in SolidWorks.

You can also check out the active document from its row's action button.

Expected result

  • The row changes to Locked by Me (amber).
  • The file becomes writable; you can now edit and save in SolidWorks.
  • Teammates immediately see the file as Locked by Other (green) on their side.

Checking out an assembly

Locking is per file. If you lock only an assembly, its parts stay read-only — and when a rebuild touches them, SolidWorks can't save them and reports "this file is set to read-only." To avoid that, when you check out (or Open) a .sldasm, GitM shows a Lock Assembly References dialog listing the assembly's parts and sub-assemblies (all nesting levels):

  • Lock All Available — lock the assembly and every reference not already held by someone else, so you can rebuild and save the whole assembly.
  • Assembly Only — lock just the assembly.
  • Cancel — do nothing (and, when opening, don't open).

Files already Locked by Other show with ✗ and are skipped; drawings (.slddrw) are not locked. Because git-lfs locks one file at a time, locking a large tree can take a moment — a progress bar with Cancel is shown. When you're done, Check In All publishes and releases the locks, or Release All (in the ⋯ menu) releases every lock you hold.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Cause Fix
"File is locked by user X" Someone else holds the lock. Wait, or ask an admin to force-unlock if they're unreachable.
Row flips to Locked by Me then back to Not Locked Lock state failed to confirm with the server. Check your connection and retry; if it persists, see Troubleshoot everyday issues.
File opens empty or won't open It was a placeholder. Make it available on this PC, then open.
Check Out is greyed out The file has unpublished local versions, or is remote-only. Resolve local versions first, or make it available.
Saving an assembly fails — a child file is "set to read-only" You locked the assembly but not the part SolidWorks is saving. Check out (or Open) the assembly and choose Lock All Available.

Known limitations

  • Check out talks to GitHub LFS, so it needs a working connection and can be slow on a poor one.
  • Locking is per file. Checking out (or opening) an assembly offers to also lock its references — see Checking out an assembly — otherwise only the assembly is locked and its children stay read-only.